Paris Peace Accords 23 Oct. 1991

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Hun Sen delivers a speech at a graduation ceremony in Phnom Penh, March 17, 2016.

Cambodia’s Hun Sen Warns of Civil War Ahead of Local Elections

RFA | 9 May 2017

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday warned of civil war if the public does not support his ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) in local elections slated for next month, but observers said his threats are doing the nation more damage than good.

Speaking at the inauguration of a government office in Tbong Khmum province, Hun Sen said Cambodia’s current state of peace could be upended if the people do not work to keep it intact.

“The saying ‘a bird in hand is worth two in the bush’ is true—be wary of the bird in hand and do not lose it,” he said.

“Please beware that the peace enjoyed throughout the country can be very precarious. If you want to see how fragile this peace is, you only need look to Facebook posts [by the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP)] … You’ll see how war is started.”

Hun Sen has made similar threats in recent months, with CPP-controlled media regularly alluding to civil war as the country prepares for commune elections in June.

In February, the prime minister hinted that he might deploy military force against any political party that attempts to wrest power away from him with a victory in national elections scheduled for July 2018.

“Some individuals dared to claim that in 2018 we would be crushed because we wouldn’t recognize the election results,” he said at the time.

“They predicted that in 2018 they could win, and if we don’t hand over power to them, they will crush us. How can this happen if the troops are in my hand?”

Hun Sen, who has already ruled Cambodia for three decades, has previously suggested he would remain in power for 10 more years.

The CPP won more than 70 percent of the vote and secured 1,592 of 1,633 communes in Cambodia’s 2012 local elections, held before the CNRP was formed. The CNRP won nearly half of the vote in the general election the following year.

Observers say the CNRP could give the CPP a run for its money in the June polls—a race that many believe may foreshadow the general election in 2018.

Campaign tactics

Political commentator Meas Ny told RFA’s Khmer Service Tuesday that a good leader is someone who can help solve the problems of the people “systematically and consistently,” not someone who “only offers to help people when an election is near.”

He also suggested the prime minister is hurting the nation by fomenting disunity.

“Any leader who promotes division amongst Cambodians is humiliating his own race and allowing foreigners to look down on his people and country,” Meas Ny said.

Hun Sen’s threats of war also came as domestic nongovernmental group Future Forum issued a report entitled “Changes in Voters’ Socio-Economic Status” on Tuesday, which said the CPP strategy of issuing threats and providing gifts is ineffective as a method of luring voters ahead of the June ballot.

Cambodians are increasingly aspiring to enjoy material lifestyles, Future Forum said, and political parties are more likely to attract voters with policies aimed at improving the private economy.

“Recent research has indicated that the tradition of gift-giving, perceived as a way to buy votes, seems to be counter-productive, because people nowadays evaluate a political party based on their families’ current economic status,” the report said.

“Therefore, it is important for politicians to take into consideration these social changes and to design genuine political programs and policies that reflect the needs of citizens, such as, for example, by taking into consideration the changes in economic activities adopted by the electorate.”

No comments:

Post a Comment

Declassified CIA documents

Sam Rainsy

Note from Hengsoy Jr.

We, Heng Soy's family and friends, are as dedicated as ever to continue his legacy of publishing sensitive information about Cambodia.

Ethnocide: destruction of a culture

For 10 years, the Vietnamese tried to apply to Cambodia a policy of ethnocide, insidiously carried out in the educational domain.... [T]he curriculum was based on that of Vietnam.... "Even schools' names come from Vietnamese"

Disputed Cambodia’s territorial waters

Facing Genocide

Award-winning film is a search into the personality of Khieu Samphan, meetings with him one and half year before his arrest (Khmer / French with English subtitles)

HRW report - DRAGGED AND BEATEN

The Cambodian Government’s Role in the October 2015 Attack on Opposition Politicians

Sam Rainsy's CV ប្រវត្តិរូប លោក សម រង្សីុ

(ខេមរភាសា / English) Leadership Cambodians desire, deserve

30 Years of Hun Sen

75-page report by Human Rights Watch, Jan. 2015

Reminder from Heng Soy (founder of KI Media)

Truth2Power (T2P) Media [formerly KI Media] loves to hear from you, and we're giving you a bullhorn. We just ask that you keep things civil. Please leave out personal attacks, do not use profanity, ethnic or racial slurs, or take shots at anyone's sexual orientation or religion. We thank you for your cooperation!

Concerts for the People of Kampuchea

On Dec 26-29, 1979 [by now, Cambodia under one full year of Vietnamese occupation], the musician Paul McCartney and Kurt Waldheim, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, organized a four-night benefit

Vietnam Invasion of Kampuchea (2 of 5, Film in English)

'The Vietnamese boasted, "The situation in Kampuchea is irreversible." ...the Vietnamese had installed a government of their own choosing. The figurehead were former Khmer Rouge... The Pol Pot regime had ended. But the worse was still not over... hundreds of thousands died during two long years of famine.'

Welcome to The Harvard Classics

Speak Truth to Power

A WORLD SAFE FOR DIVERSITY

Punctuation is Key to Development

Compare these two versions of Khmer article: Original vs. With Punctuation

Fair Trial Rights Handbook

In both Khmer and English

How chronic stress affects your brain

TED-Ed: How chronic stress can affect the brain's size, structure, and how it functions

Trauma Handbook

In both Khmer and English

Time for Truth

Os Guinness at Stanford Univ.

Is Tolerance Intolerant?

Pursuing the Climate of Acceptance and Inclusion - Ravi Zacharias at UCLA

Gene Sharp

From Dictatorship to Democracy, in English, other languages, free downloading

Gene Sharp

From Dictatorship to Democracy (Khmer translated by Mr. Ung Bun Ang)

UDHR

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, punctuated Khmer

Proverbs

Punctuated Khmer

Elizabeth Becker

Luke

ដំណឹងល្អ រៀបរៀង ដោយលូកា (Punctuated Khmer)

Sam Rainsy

My Struggle for Democracy in Cambodia

MIRACLES: Is Belief in Supernatural Irrational?

Standing ovation for this witty, illuminating, educational talk of Oxford prof. John Lennox at Harvard Univ.

Theary Seng

Rithy Panh

Pin Yathay

Nic Dunlop

How To Make Your Kids Smarter

10 Steps Backed By Science

KramaNation

KI Media family in KramaNation

ប្រវត្តិសាស្ត្រ ប្រទេស កម្ពុជា | History Series

សម រង្ស៊ី / Sam Rainsy: ខ្ញុំ សូម លាតត្រដាង ប្រវត្តិសាស្ត្រ ប្រទេស កម្ពុជា មួយរយៈកាល (ពីឆ្នាំ ១៩៥១ ដល់ឆ្នាំ ១៩៩១) ដែលគេ បិទបាំង មិនឲ្យ ប្រជារាស្ត្រខ្មែរ បានដឹង។ I would like to expose a period of Cambodia's history (from 1951 to 1991) that has been hidden to the Cambodian people.

REPEAT OFFENDER: Vietnam's Persistent Trade in Illegal Timber

Report of London-based Environmental Investigation Agency, May 2017

GRAND CONCESSIONS

Vietnamese People's Army has quietly assumed control of nearly 40,000 hectares of land in Ratanakkiri (Cambodia Daily, 24 Dec. 2015)

Global Witness: Rubber Barons

How Vietnamese companies and international financiers are driving a land grabbing crisis in Cambodia and Laos

K-5 GENOCIDE, 1981-88

The Vietnamization of Cambodia: A New Model of Colonialism

A series of exposes that Indochina Report has published on the Vietnamization process. Others in the series: "The Military Occupation of Kampuchea" (1985), "Vietnamized Cambodia: A Silent Ethnocide" by Marie Alexandrine Martin (1986). and "Daily Life in Cambodia: A Personal Account" by Dr. Esmeralda Luciolli (1988)

Vietnamization: Airlines, Airspace

Cambodia Angkor Air, "golden route" over Cambodian airspace

Cambodia's Family Tree

Global Witness Report: Cambodia is run by a kleptocratic elite that generates much of its wealth via the seizure of public assets, particularly natural resources.

The Economist explains economics

The Economist explains” 6 seminal economics ideas.

Who Killed Chea Vichea?

The Peabody Award-winning film in both KHMER and English. More at www.whokilledcheavichea.com.

I Am Chut Wutty

Banned in Cambodia, documentary film about murdered environmental activist by govt security